Career: Hird made her film debut in The Black Sheep of Whitehall in 1942 with Will Hay and a string of small roles followed. She had a memorable role as a sharp-tongued mother in A Kind of Loving (1962). Her biggest roles were on TV in sitcoms, including Meet the Wife, In Loving Memory, Hallelujah! and for nearly 20 years in Last of the Summer Wine. Her most acclaimed performances came later in life in straight roles. She won Bafta Best Actress awards for two of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologues and the drama Lost for Words. Away from acting, she hosted the religious programme Praise Be! for many years. She died on March 15, 2003 at the age of 91.

Career: James became known in the film trade as 'one-take James' and was constantly in demand for small parts. His first major role was alongside Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). His first big break came in 1954, when he became Tony Hancock's sidekick in the hugely popular BBC radio comedy Hancock's Half Hour. His next break came when he appeared on the big screen in Carry On Teacher (1959). He went on to make 19 Carry On films and various stage and TV spin-offs. On the small screen, he enjoyed success in the sitcoms Hancock's Half Hour, Citizen James, George and the Dragon and Bless This House. He was touring in a stage version of The Mating Season when he suffered a fatal heart attack on April 26, 1976. He was 62.